Sandbags from scratch?

Hello all :)
I have a CZ rimfire i like to shoot at the range and/or countryside if i can.
I'd like to make a little sandbag to put it wherever i am, under the forearm.

How would you make yours? Starting materials, dimensions, etc.

I'm looking for ideas... thanks :D

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SGW42

July 13, 2009, 09:38 AM

I'd find an old pair of jeans and cut sections of the legs, length dependent on what size bag I wanted. Then fill 'em up with sand and just stitch the openings closed.

Uncle Mike

July 13, 2009, 09:46 AM

Put your sand in a plastic or rubber type bag THEN stuff it into a old pair of blue jean leg.

By using the rubber or plastic bag, this will keep the sand from working its way through the fabric and marring the finish on your firearm.

:D

Olympus

July 13, 2009, 10:26 AM

Yeah, the old denim jeans sandbag tip works pretty well. I've seen people use different types of beads too instead of sand.

O_Blade_O

July 13, 2009, 11:14 AM

Oh, thanks!! I wasn't thinking about clothes recycling! :D
You got me in mind and IF i make two bags out of old socks, filled, then link toghether longitudinally should i obtain an... ehm... "Breast Profile" sandbag that should hold the rifle well and can be used as a single bag ?

You could also find someone that reloads shotshells and get a couple of shot bags that are usually discarded when empty. Their made of a very rugged woven material and also very strong to contain 25# of lead shot......

OR.... PM me an address and I'll send you a couple.....

lions

July 13, 2009, 11:56 AM

I filled some of those brown paper lunch sacks halfway full with sand then I wrapped them up with duct tape.

briansmithwins

July 13, 2009, 11:58 AM

Another idea is to fill your bags with dried beans of plastic pellets. Much lighter and easier to get to conform.

Get the pellets at a craft store. Sold as 'doll stuffing' according to google.

BSW

mm1ut1

July 13, 2009, 01:51 PM

The bags at my range are filled with dried and ground corn cobs. Nice and light. You may also want to make a simple H shaped support out of wood with the center section not centered so you can flip it over to get a different height.

Olympus

July 13, 2009, 01:57 PM

Another idea is to fill your bags with dried beans of plastic pellets. Much lighter and easier to get to conform.

Get the pellets at a craft store. Sold as 'doll stuffing' according to google.

That's the stuff I was talking about. Quite a bit lighter if you're going to be packing the bags around. But in my opinion, not as solid as packed sand.

oneounceload

July 13, 2009, 02:13 PM

Since I also shoot shotguns, I use my old lead shot bags filled with spent 209 primers, just as effective at half the weight - they make great door stops into the garage too.........

You could also use ground up tire material like they use for mulch - won't hold moisture like sand will

scotjute

July 13, 2009, 02:31 PM

I use a large bag of dried pinto beans as a rest. Asssume other beans or maybe even rice would work as well, but haven't tried them. The beans are cleaner than a sand bag.

SudSlinger

July 13, 2009, 03:49 PM

I cut down a millitary duffel bag and used duct tapt to seal it. Pretty nifty as I used the section with the sewn-in handle. It's been quite durable.

Art Eatman

July 13, 2009, 04:27 PM

Zipper bank money bags work...

3pairs12

July 13, 2009, 04:36 PM

Canvas shot bags.

Sav .250

July 13, 2009, 04:46 PM

Mine is simple. I got real sand bag, the kind you stuff for floods and such.
I filled a plastic bag with fine sand first then stuffed that into the sand-bag. Tied it off and I had me a.....................sand bag.

I will say mine is a little heavy but I can use it front or back equally well.
Smack it around some to get the shape/height you want then...fire at will.

Max C.

July 13, 2009, 06:20 PM

I use these (http://www.valleymartialarts.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=iron+palm+bag). I fill them up with beans from the dollar store. It's basically a small scale punching bag. The vinyl is really durable and won't mar the finish of your rifle. It has a zipper on the back for filling.

BunnyPuncher

July 13, 2009, 07:08 PM

I do jean legs and whatever cheap brass cleaning media from the pet store I have on hand at the time. Sand and shot are better, but I ain't lugging that much weight around.

theotherwaldo

July 13, 2009, 07:59 PM

I've poured sections of light-truck inner tube part-way full of a mix of sand and vermiculite, closed both ends with re-bar ties, then put them in "pillow cases" made from the legs of old work pants. Useful for far more than shooting, by the way.

dak0ta

July 13, 2009, 09:58 PM

Empty Rice Bag + Sand. Voila.

mgkdrgn

July 13, 2009, 10:26 PM

I'd find an old pair of jeans and cut sections of the legs, length dependent on what size bag I wanted. Then fill 'em up with sand and just stitch the openings closed.

=Almost= the same here ... but I used crushed corncobs to fill. Much lighter!

farmallmta

July 13, 2009, 10:52 PM

Caution: all those cheap-o ways of making sandbags could affect your standing in the world marksmanship rankings someday. Do not fall for these "farmer fixes." Do it right!

I recommend the middle section of a Hippopotamus small intestine turned inside out and properly dried and tanned on the southwestern side of the Outer Hebrides, then filled with solar reflection dried diatomaceous earth from the Ivory Coast Upper Alluvial Plain. Be sure to tie off the filled intestine bag with tungsten/titanium alloy 20 gauge wire, wound counterclockwise at the subordinate end of the hippo intestine and clockwise at the pronated end.

This opposed winding neutralizes the Zimmerman-A4f effect and thereby ensures that no magnetronic field is inadvertently set up around the barrel of your rifle, a problem that often causes world class marksmen to be sub-minute of angle deflected from true target center.

Good luck and good sandbagging and good shooting.

Eb1

July 13, 2009, 10:59 PM

Jean legs and rice.

Ky Larry

July 13, 2009, 11:12 PM

I put up a new light fixture in my mom-in-laws garage. She took some canvas and made me some sand bags. She left about 2 inches unsewed at one corner. I filled them with sand and she sewed them up. I've had them for several years and they are holding up just fine.

BunnyPuncher

July 13, 2009, 11:42 PM

I recommend the middle section of a Hippopotamus small intestine turned inside out and properly dried and tanned on the southwestern side of the Outer Hebrides, then filled with solar reflection dried diatomaceous earth from the Ivory Coast Upper Alluvial Plain. Be sure to tie off the filled intestine bag with tungsten/titanium alloy 20 gauge wire, wound counterclockwise at the subordinate end of the hippo intestine and clockwise at the pronated end.

This opposed winding neutralizes the Zimmerman-A4f effect and thereby ensures that no magnetronic field is inadvertently set up around the barrel of your rifle, a problem that often causes world class marksmen to be sub-minute of angle deflected from true target center.

QFT.

farmallmta

July 14, 2009, 12:11 AM

Great point, Bunnypuncher. For those of you who aren't familiar with in-depth sandbag physics, "QFT" is geek-speak for Quantum Fission Terminator. This is what antecounteracts the expected ballistic rise of the aft-end of the bullet during terminal parabolic drift.

That "inner-tube filled with corncob dust" is the worst at causing it. Avoid that one at all cost. Word.

farmallmta

July 14, 2009, 12:21 AM

Ky Larry I put up a new light fixture in my mom-in-laws garage. She took some canvas and made me some sand bags. She left about 2 inches unsewed at one corner. I filled them with sand and she sewed them up. I've had them for several years and they are holding up just fine.

:scrutiny:I can vouch for KY Jelly's sandbag technique, here.

What makes that sandbag system particularly effective is the fact that he put up a new light fixture in his Mother-in-law's garage. I've made the mistake of only changing the light bulb on a neighbor's porch for her and the sandbags she made for me in return just don't work as well. Not sure why, but most Sandbag Physicists agree that a mother-in-law garage light fixture change out will improve the quality of the swapped-for sandbag.

KY Jelly's suggestion is about a good cheapo bag as you're going to get. BUT: If you don't have a mother-in-law or if she doesn't have a garage or if the light fixture in it doesn't need changing... go with the rice-bag filled with dry black eyed peas and sealed up with #4 hog rings.:D

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